US military to hand back Sunni bastion of Anbar to Iraq

AFP ^ | June 23, 2008 5 hours ago | AFP

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

BAGHDAD (AFP) — The US military is to hand over security control of the former Sunni insurgent bastion of Anbar province to Iraqi forces in the next 10 days, a US military spokesman announced on Monday.

"The handover of Anbar is expected to take place in the next 10 days," Lieutenant David Russell told AFP, declining to provide an exact date.

Anbar would be the tenth of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed back to Iraqi forces by the US-led coalition amid a push to transfer security control of the entire country back to Baghdad.

Anbar province in western Iraq, the country's largest, was the epicentre of a brutal Sunni Arab-led fight against the US military after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

H/T to Hotair for pointing to this AFP Report:

“Lost” province will come under Iraqi control this month

***********************EXCERPT***************************

posted at 1:40 pm on June 23, 2008 by Ed Morrissey

At one time, Anbar looked like a permanently lost province. Terrorists from al-Qaeda and native insurgencies had made Anbar a no-man’s-land of IEDs, suicide bombings, and drug-fueled, brutal applications of shari’a law. The US appeared unsure and the central Iraqi government impotent. Two years later, Anbar has transformed itself into the next province to officially come under control of the Iraqi security forces that once epitomized futility:

****************************snip********************

Two turning points led to Anbar’s transformation. The American surge and new counterinsurgency strategies of General David Petraeus finally fought the AQI and native insurgents effectively, putting them on the defensive and re-establishing the initiative for the Coalition forces. Prior to that, the native Sunni tribes switched allegiances after discovering the bloodthirsty and tyrannical nature of their co-religionists in AQI. Even the native insurgents, mostly Ba’athist dead-enders who hated Americans, switched after enduring their alliance with AQI long enough to see the real threat to their homeland.

*************************************************

See Hot Air Link for rest of the comments and article.

[stefanbatory]

how many troops does this free up for that dinnerjacket guy to run from?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good question...but I have no idea,...guess the LWJ might be a place to watch...but there is business elsewhere;

One hundred insurgents detained in Baghdad during past week

***********************EXCERPT************************

By Bill MurrayJune 22, 2008 5:46 PM

BAGHDAD, IRAQ: Iraqi and Coalition forces in and around Baghdad captured more than 100 insurgents and defused 147 improved explosive devices during the past week as part of continued security operations, according to Iraqi and Coalition spokesmen. One insurgent was killed, six kidnap victims liberated and about 700 kilograms of TNT discovered during security sweeps in the past seven days, said Iraqi Army spokesman Major General Qassim Atta during a press conference in Baghdad today.

The current security plan, called Fardh al-Qanoon, or `Enforcing the Law,’ has been in place since early 2007, when U.S. planners began implementing a U.S. troop surge and divided Baghdad into separate security districts. Iraq forces now lead operations in all three of Iraq’s major cities, Baghdad, Basrah and Mosul and are operating in Amarah, where the Iraqi Army is currently battle elements of the Mahdi Army, said U.S. Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll at the same press conference.

"So far in Amarah, there has been little resistance to the extension of the rule of law," Driscoll said. "There are still foreign terrorists who want to reconstitute their forces. Elements of Al-Qaeda’’ and Iranian-supported "Special Groups are still in Baghdad, but they are under pressure.’’

Iraqi forces kicked off a security operation last week in the southern province of Maysan, arresting the mayor of Amarah, Rafeaa Jabar, who also acted as Maysan’s deputy governor. Amarah, the provincial capital of Maysan, serves as the one of the major distribution points for weapons entering into southern Iraq from Iran and was the most significant Mahdi-controlled area in Iraq after control of Basrah and Sadr City were taken by Iraqi national forces.

[Straight Vermonter]

Provinces
1. Baghdad(بغداد)
2. Salahad Din(صلاح الدين)
3. Diyala( ديالى)
4. Wasit( واسط)
5. Maysan(ميسان) - Now under PIC
6. Al-Basrah(البصرة) - Now under PIC
7. DhiQar (ذي قار) - Now under PIC
8. Al-Muthanna( المثنى) - Now under PIC
9. Al-Qadisiyah( القادسية)
10. Babil(بابل)
11. Karbala‘(كربلاء) - Now under PIC
12. An-Najaf( النجف) - Now under PIC
13. Al-Anbar(الأنبار) - Will be under PIC
14. Ninawa(نينوى)
15. Dahuk(دهوك) - Now under PIC
16. Arbil(Erbil) (أربيل) - Now under PIC
17. At Ta’mim( التأميم)
18. As-Sulaymaniyah( السليمانية) - Now under PIC

[LSUfan]

NOTE that this report is from a French news source. I checked CNN.com: no mention. Nothing on ABCNews.com. No mention on MSNBC.com. And same goes for CBSNews.com.

[LSUfan]

NOTE that this report is from a French news source. I checked CNN.com: no mention. Nothing on ABCNews.com. No mention on MSNBC.com. And same goes for CBSNews.com.

[ODC-GIRL]

It’s a quagmire!! We’ve got to get out of there!!/sarc

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very interesting.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks !

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest_at_the_Beach. It’ll be nice to have the whole of Iraq under Iraqi gov’t control, a few years from now, when the whole outhouse goes up in flames again. :’D

[DJ Elliott]

Anbar is where the IA reserve that has been going after JAM came from.
- 26/7 Bde from Ramadi is in Basrah.
- 1/1, 3/1, and 4/1 Bde From east Anbar are in Sadr City and east Baghdad.
- 2/1 Bde from east Anbar is in Taji covering the base for the 9th Mech Div which is split between Sadr City, Mosul, Amarah, and south Baghdad.
- 1st (QRF) Div Troops is in Amarah. It was in Basrah. Home base is Habenayah in Anbar.

Anbar security is being handled by Anbar Police. Which makes the 1st and 7th Divisions available for other employment as needed...

The US presense is two USMC RCTs and they are reducing.

[DJ Elliott]

Qadisayah (#4 on the map) turns over early July.
The last meeting between the Polish Bde, 8th IA Div, and the provincial authorites prior to the cerimony has already been held.

After that, Babil and Wassit...

[Straight Vermonter]

Thanks, the map above should be updated now. Do you have a cite for Babil and Wassit? I couldn’t find anything.

[DJ Elliott]

From the March testimony by Gen P.
On one of his graphics.

After Anbar and Qadisayah, they work north skipping Kirkuk.
Tammin (Kirkuk) is last.

The dates have slid a bit but the sequence is still holding...

[Straight Vermonter]

Thanks, I’ll look it up.

[DJ Elliott]

Apr08: PIC Schedule: Ta’mim TBD; Ninewa JAN09; Salah Ad Din JAN09; Baghdad DEC08; Diyala DEC08; Babil NOV08; Wasit NOV08; Qadisiyah JUL08; Anbar JUN08. Fm Senate Brief Slides

[FreeAtlanta]

I can’t wait until the damned “Salahad Din” and “Diyala” provinces to be handed over. Looking at our losses, many have come from those regions.

[DJ Elliott]

Those are still problems.
Which is why the Iraqi PM is talking about a major offensive in Diyala next...

[Marine_Uncle]

Al Anbar has a lot of gas and oil They are not dopes. Better to kill off all that killed and held their people slaves to a dead end radical cult, and bring in the major oil companies to set up shop. Lots of bucks to be made.